Can i do ssh into my ec2 instance created by terraform?

Question

i have created an ec2 instance using terraform (do not have .pem keys). Can i establish ssh connection between my local system and ec2 instance?

Answer 1

Assuming you provisioned an instance using Terraform v0.12.+ with this structure:

resource "aws_instance" "instance" {
  ami              = "${var.ami}"
  instance_type    = "t2.micro"
  count            = 1
  associate_public_ip_address = true
}

You can make some additional settings:

• Configure the public ip output:

output "instance_ip" {
  description = "The public ip for ssh access"
  value       = aws_instance.instance.public_ip
}

• Create an aws_key_pair with an existing ssh public key or create a new one Ex:

resource "aws_key_pair" "ssh-key" {
  key_name   = "ssh-key"
  public_key = "ssh-rsa AAAAB3Nza............"
}

• Add the key_name in instance resource just like this:

resource "aws_instance" "instance" {
  ami              = var.ami
  instance_type    = "t2.micro"
  count            = 1
  associate_public_ip_address = true

  key_name         = "ssh-key"
}

• Now you need to apply running terraform apply and terraform output to return the public IP

• Get your public IP and run:

 ssh <PUBLIC IP>

OR with a public key path

ssh -i "~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub" <PUBLIC IP>

Sources:

• https://www.terraform.io/docs/providers/aws/r/instance.html
• https://www.terraform.io/docs/providers/aws/r/key_pair.html
• https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/AccessingInstancesLinux.html